When Progressives Mature

In my former community, a rather dim university professor served as the token black on a local human rights group. In it mostly for self-promotion, he regularly undermined the group’s effectiveness and cohesion by selling out other minorities and sabotaging authentic activists. Yet, seeing as how he was their most visible symbol of tolerance, the group repeatedly made excuses for his dismal leadership.

Observing the same mentality at play during the Obama campaign and inauguration, I expect we are in for much of the same unthinking support by penitent whites for a leader who, as a Senator, time and again betrayed the progressive principles his supporters espouse as values. Wishing Obama well is not the same as defending his betrayals; when progressives mature, they will be able to understand that.